Top 100 Picture Books #69: Moo Baa La La La by Sandra Boynton

I found a copy of this book in the library book sale, and bought it for my young son. When I showed the other librarians, every single mother among them started reciting it from memory – some of them with children in college and beyond. – Ann Carpenter

Oh, this is a toughie. Not tough in terms of praise. This is indeed one of those board book staples we’ve come to love and rely on. No, it’s just hard to find things to say about it. We can say that it’s currently tied with Barnyard Dance for the bestselling Boynton book of all time. But aside from that it becomes a little difficult. The best I can do is mention that in keeping with the 21st century, the book currently has an app. One that actually earned itself a star in a Kirkus review. Should a long car trip present itself, I’ll consider it. Here’s an image from the app:

The description of the book, such as it is, reads: “Various animals make their sounds, from the moo of the cow to the snort and snuff of the rhinoceroses.”

There was a time there where I had the greatest of difficulty hearing this title and not singing it to the tune of “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga. This isn’t too crazy when you consider how much weirder it is that I sing her other board book Your Personal Penguin to Depeche Mode’s Personal Jesus. Editor Molly O’Neill actually found great words to go with my Gaga version, but I’ve long since lost them somewhere. Bummer.

Elizabeth Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

Comments

Here’s something to say about this book – I have a board version of it from 1982. Every single illustration is different. I don’t know when it was re-done, though the new version is more lively. The text is the same, and winning even back in 1982.

If you haven’t seen leasthelpful.com (sister site of literallyunbelieveable.org), it’s great — and they’ve used a number of picture books and other Fuse #8-worthy things in their daily posts…including this book!

Advertisements

Archives

My Reviews Collected

About A Fuse #8 Production

Features everything from librarian previews of upcoming children's books to news, reviews, and videos. If it has something to do with children's literature, it will rate a mention here.

Betsy Bird is the Youth Materials Specialist of New York Public Library. She's reviewed for The New York Times and Kirkus, writes articles for Horn Book and SLJ, and wrote the picture book Giant Dance Party. You can contact her at Fusenumber8@gmail.com or follow her on . . .